AFL Round 8 in Review

It was a neat little round of footy with some surprise performances, some big bags and two very intense matches. But for Saints and Bomber fans, it may be one to forget yet again.

Ben Ronke announced himself in fine style with seven goalsPhoto: Getty Images

Weekend Wizard

Ben RonkeHeading into a chilly Friday night at the MCG, Alastair Clarkson implored fans to put up with the cold and come out to see a game that might be a 'classic'. It didn't quite get to that standard but those who braved the elements saw one of the all-time great performances by a youngster in Ben Ronke. In just his third game, the Sydney forward booted seven, including four in the first quarter to help his side to a gutsy eight-point win. Ronke also became the first player in AFL history to kick seven and have 10 tackles and the best goalkicking effort in an MCG debut since Scott Cummings bagged eight back in 1994.

Jack Macrae would have been the wizard for the second week running if it hadn't been for Ronke. The Bont tried hogging the limelight with four goals in the Dogs' win over Brisbane, but Macrae wouldn't be denied with a career-best 47 possessions (18 contested), 10 clearances, eight tackles, eight inside-50s and three goal-assists. Macrae was also going at 78.7 for disposal efficiency meaning he had 37 touches that found the target.

Robbie Gray seized the Showdown by the scruff of the neck in the third-quarter, booting five of his six goals as the Power turned a 21-point half-time deficit into a six-point lead at the last change. Port had only scored four goals up to half-time before Gray intervened, helping the Power kick seven goals for the term on their way to a famous win. Tom Rockliff was also pretty good, with 31 possessions and eight tackles. Interestingly, It was easily Rockliff's best match for Port from a stats perspective and the first time he's cracked 30 possessions since Round 8 last year.

Nat Fyfe's big season just keeps getting better as he reeled off 36 possessions in Freo's much-needed win over St Kilda on Saturday night. Fyfe's effort made him the first player in AFL history to post 25 contested possessions in consecutive weeks. And, to cap off the night there were no MRO issues with the Seb Ross bump. Freo's Connor Blakeley and Ed Langdon also had career-best performances against the Saints, notching up 35 and 33 touches respectively.

Tom McDonald kept the scores ticking over nicely for Melbourne, bagging himself five goals in Melbourne's rout of Gold Coast. Dees have now won three straight and are flying under the radar a little.

It must be the week for records for Ben Cunnington added his name to the list on Sunday. The Kangaroos midfielder was tough as nails in a hard-fought loss to Richmond, posting 38 possessions with 32 of these being contested. Cunnington well and truly broke the previous record of 29 contested possessions in a game previously held by Patrick Dangerfield and Josh Kennedy. For Richmond, Trent Cotchin was also immense with 37 touches (22 contested, seven clearances) with the skipper scoring a quality snap to give the Tigers the lead in a dramatic final term. And, Ben Jacobs also deserves a mention, the North tagger holding Dustin Martin to just 16 possessions, six of which came in the last quarter.

Front Bar Fodder

Questions we’d debate over a frothy!

Will the top eight change? The Round 8 rule says there’s usually only one or two changes to the top eight following Round 8. Last year there were two as St Kilda and the Bulldogs dropped out for Sydney and Essendon to come in. This year we have Richmond, West Coast, Geelong, Adelaide, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Sydney and Port in the top bracket but GWS, North and Collingwood are all knocking on the door. Freo and the Bulldogs have also quietly notched up four wins and you can still get $10 for the Dogs to make the top eight.

Will Michael Christian see out the year? The MRO seems a bigger lottery each week! At least we know touching an umpire gets you a one-way ticket to the tribunal

Can Tom Mitchell deal with a tag? Ben Jacobs sorted him out a few weeks ago and the tandem act of Josh Kennedy and George Hewett were into him on Friday night. Maybe a better question is, can Hawthorn deal with both Tom Mitchell and Isaac Smith being worked out of the contest or have Sydney exposed them?

Are Port back? Who knows! The Power aren’t just inconsistent from week to week, it’s from quarter to quarter. At least with Sam Powell-Pepper back and Tom Rockliff finding his mojo they have a much harder edge in midfield.

Are Dusty and Danger out of the Brownlow race? It's too early to say but neither are really smashing the door down as they have in past years. Both maybe playing hurt but for Dusty, copping the Ben Jacobs stranglehold never helps!

Is this the best footy ad? Sure Bont gets to act alongside an Avenger and there was once a good one with a Pie, but we do like Dermie in this one for Mother's Day.

Will West Coast v Richmond next week be a Grand Final preview? They’re clearly the competition’s form teams but with injuries badly affecting other challengers maybe it’s a tad early to tell. But signs are good for West Coast. The last time they won seven in a row they made the 2011 Prelim, while they haven’t won eight straight in a season since 2005. The bookies have started getting on board too and have them down to around the $10 mark now for the flag after they were at $14 last week. Would a nibble on North for the flag at $51 be silly. Probably, but there's worse ways to spend a tenner and they were pretty darn impressive against the Tigers on Sunday.

Around the Grounds in 140 Characters or less

GWS V WEST COAST - 8.13 (61) - 12.14 (86)The Gee-Dub Ferraris now look more like battered Vee-Dubs.while West Coast look a flag chance with big Jack clunking them the way he is. We won't remind him of that 2015 GF though!

NORTH MELBOURNE v RICHMOND - 11.6 (72) - 12.10 (82)North belted the pants off Richmond and Cunnington dug in. The Kangas led in the last before Tiges hit back. Two Ben Brown misses may haunt North big time

COLLINGWOOD V GEELONG - 18.6 (114) - 19.7 (121)It was tough and hard and both sides struggled to score. But Cats had the answers when it counted.

Out of Bounds

More woe for WooshaIt was actually a pretty good day for jockeys yesterday so our mates over at Punters.com.au gave their Saturday Slaughter to John Worsfold after Essendon lost their sixth match from the last seven, giving Carlton their first win of the season in the process. Their description pretty much sums this up: "We had to cross codes today because we couldn't find a standout 'slaughter' in the jockey ranks (well done hoops). 'Woosha' can't seem to control the (collective) camel that he sits upon and today's effort against Carlton was particularly offensive.

Mayne PainOh Chris Mayne! Even when you play a decent game for the Pies (25 possessions) you still manage to concuss the only bloke who could kick a goal for your team with an errant knee. With Phillips off, at one stage the Pies kicked seven straight behinds.

Face in the CrowdYou could pretty much pick out faces in the crowd as a measly 6060 attended the Gold Coast v Melbourne clash at the Gabba, the record low eclipsing a Brisbane Bears v Melbourne match from 1991. And, it wasn't much better at Spotless where 9253 braved the elements.The AFL probably won't be happy either that several Melbourne train lines were out of action this weekend, potentially impacting crowds.